David Moyes has endured a torrid first season in charge at Old Trafford, and Purslow believes United made the wrong decision when making the appointment.

“If we believe what we’ve read, Sir Alex Ferguson, more or less, recommended and appointed David Moyes,” he told talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.

“If you contrast this with their peers like Bayern Munich, who targeted Pep Guardiola from one of their rival clubs, with the best will in the world, one gets the sense Bayern Munich went about it carefully, cautiously and took their time.

“[Any other company] would run a search. They establish their criteria. They interview three or four candidates, whittle it down to one or two and, through the process, often you will learn a lot.

“I couldn’t help but notice Gary Neville said the other day you can sense an identity crisis at Manchester United. It isn’t clear David Moyes had a plan.”